


Biases

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Intergenerational friendship, Iroh Isn't Perfect, Male-Female Friendship, Misgendering, Post-Canon, Post-Series, Unintentional Sexism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 23:30:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12468408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: “No.” His voice is firmer than Toph has ever heard it. “It is not her fault. At least, not entirely. Yes, she should be held accountable for her actions, as we each should be. But, Ozai…I saw that Zuko needed help. IknewZuko. And when I came back from War all those years ago, I saw how much he needed me. So I tried to help him—”“You did. From how I’ve heard it, you basically saved Sparky’s life!”“And if I had not, he very easily could have been like Azula is now. She needed me as well…and yet I did not see it.” He pauses. “You will think poorly of me.”Iroh, Toph, and confessions among friends.





	Biases

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zilliannie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zilliannie/gifts).



> This piece has been stewing around my head for a while, based on a response that tumblr user angryinterrobang (AO3 user Zilliannie) wrote on a meta piece that I had posted (which can be found [here](http://angryinterrobang.tumblr.com/post/163564117861).) 
> 
> I realized after writing that this could probably be read as something of a related piece to my earlier work _Tea?_ which can be read [at this link](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9519902), though these two works can certainly be understood independently of each other!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

She drops in on him whenever she’s in Ba Sing Se—which is a lot these days, because she won’t go back to Gaoling, hasn’t in the five years since the War and doesn’t plan to in the future, and while she agreed to build and run the police department in that new pet city project of Twinkletoes’s and Sparky’s, it’s all politics right now and no criminal butt-kicking, and so she’s not ready to move there just yet. 

When she visits, he always greets her warmly, pours her tea and doesn’t patronize or pity. It’s refreshing, really, and she always looks forward to it.

She pushes the door to the Jasmine Dragon open in the evening, right after the last customers have left. 

“I am sorry,” he begins, too busy clearing dishes to turn his head to face her. “But I am closed for the—”

“I know. But I figured you might want some help cleaning up this dump.”

Now he does look up. “Toph! What a pleasant surprise! Welcome, welcome. Allow me to pour you some tea!”

“I was serious about helping to clean up.”

“It did not occur to me that you were not. But later, perhaps,” he bustles over to where she has sat herself with a teapot and two cups. “Tea takes precedence.”

His voice is warm, as always, but, Toph notices, there is a certain strained quality to it, that the warmth is forced. He’s just come back from a trip to the Fire Nation, she knows, and if he’s bothered by something…well, then…“Is Sparky doing okay?”

“Hm?” Iroh hands her a porcelain cup of tea. “Oh, yes, my nephew is doing well, thank you.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“There is not—”

“Cut the crap, old man! I _get_ you, remember? When we met I _saw_ how much you needed Zuko, despite the fact that you didn’t say anything like that, and—”

“And you wisely told me that I should have told him that I needed him as well. And you were correct. I should have.”

“ _And_ , even if that wasn’t true, I’m the greatest Earthbender in world—I can _tell_ when people are lying. So spill. If it’s not Zuko, what’s the problem?”

Iroh hesitates. “You do not want to listen to an old man’s ramblings.”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked. Talk!”

Another pause, then he relents. “While I was recently in the Fire Nation, in addition to visiting my nephew, I also visited my niece.”

“Crazy fire lady. Got it.”

“Indeed.”

“And?”

He sighs. “I had hoped…but she is no better than she was when the War ended. If anything, she is worse, festering in pain and rage…and I…I tried to help…I brought her tea and I sat with her for hours…but nothing I did…nothing I do…is able to…”

“Well, it sucks, but that’s her fault. She’s the one who—”

“No.” His voice is firmer than Toph has ever heard it. “It is not her fault. At least, not entirely. Yes, she should be held accountable for her actions, as we each should be. But, Ozai…I saw that Zuko needed help. I _knew_ Zuko. And when I came back from War all those years ago, I saw how much he needed me. So I tried to help him—”

“You did. From how I’ve heard it, you basically saved Sparky’s life!”

“And if I had not, he very easily could have been like Azula is now. She needed me as well…and yet I did not see it.” He pauses. “You will think poorly of me.”

“Do you think I could, old man?”

Iroh doesn’t answer the question, instead turns his head to avert his gaze from hers. “I am not sure you understand…I was once a different man. An incredibly selfish man. And it is not until my son…that I was able to…that I learned…I began to see him in every man I encountered. And eventually I was able to see each of them as fully human as I saw myself and as I had seen him.”

“And that was when you started helping people.”

He shakes his head. “Not _people_. I had a son, whom I loved dearly, and whom I knew how to see as a person. And eventually I learned to see every _man_ as I had seen him. But, Toph, I never had a daughter.”

“So,” Toph reasons slowly. “You’re saying that you didn’t see girls and women as _people_.”

He doesn’t look at her. “It was not something of which I was consciously aware. But I…no, I do not believe I managed to see women and girls as complex beings with rich inner-lives as I could see men and boys as such beings. And if I could not see them as agents with interiority, how would I be able to help them? How would I even be able to see that they needed guidance?”

“But what about _me_? You met _me_ in the mountains and clearly saw that _I_ needed guidance! You helped _me_.”

“Well, this is quite embarrassing, but…In truth, I did not realize that you were a girl at the time.”

“ _What_?!”

“To be sure, I was somewhat distracted at that time in my worries about Zuko. But what I saw was a powerful bender who knocked me down, and when you revealed yourself I saw a strong child. It was a poor—”

“Let me get this straight. You thought that just because I was the greatest Earthbender in the world and kicked your ass, I _had_ to be a boy? You thought that girls couldn’t be strong?”

“As I said, it was not a conscious thought process. And in fact, when I later did realize you were a young lady—”

“Wait just a minute, old man. I’m a girl—I’m _not_ a young lady!”

“Of course,” Iroh says with a slight bow. “Forgive me. When I realized—”

“When?”

“I am sorry?”

“When did you realize?”

“Not until the day of Sozin’s Comet when you all found your way to our camp. One of your friends—Sokka, I believe—referred to you as _she_ , and I nearly started. I did not have time to think on it at the moment—I was focused on our liberation of Ba Sing Se, and on ensuring that the five of you knew what you each had to do—but after the day was won, it was this realization that caused me to question all the biases I had been unwittingly carrying around with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was forced to ask myself why I was surprised, and after that, why I had initially assumed you were a boy at all. And I concluded that I had been either unable or unwilling to see women as the individual people they were, with interiorities and strengths and even flaws.” He pauses. “And after that, I compelled myself to think of all the woman to whom I had done a grave disservice because of this. My late wife. Countless soldiers under my command. And, of course, my niece. As became starkly apparent to me when I went to visit her in that facility shortly after the War was ended. I failed her terribly. And I do not know how I can possibly amend what I have done to her.”

“You’ll figure it out.”

Iroh looks up at her, astonished, creases his eyebrows slightly.

“What?” Toph continues. “All this proves is that you’re not perfect like Sparky thinks you are. Well, I have news for you, old man. All of us—all the best people I know—we’re all kinda messed up. You should have been there in those last few months of the War. A lot of the time it felt like some big group therapy session more than it felt like Twinkletoes was trying to master the elements and take down the Fire Lord. And somehow, we all figured out our crap, even if it took some of us a while.” She pauses. “And based on what Sparky’s said, you have too. So you can do it again.” She smirks. “And before you ask, this is how I show affection.”

He opens his mouth, as if to ask a question, but before he can, she lands a firm punch on his shoulder. 

“I will cherish the bruise.”

“You’d better.” Toph throws back the rest of her tea in a quick gulp. “Now, I know I said I came to help you clean up, but I think I’ll let you take care of it. I wouldn’t want to confuse you just as you’re starting to learn that women can do things other than be perfect little domestics.” 

Iroh arches an eyebrow, smiles at her as he reaches for her cup. “It would be my pleasure.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please consider making my day and leaving me a comment!


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